That's life: CEO Wynn says Sinatra eatery was fate

LAS VEGAS 
Steve Wynn is having a ball as he prepares to open his newest joint, a resort and casino called Encore.

It's bringing back memories of Frank Sinatra that date back almost 30 years to when the crooner and Wynn, then a young entrepreneur, forged a friendship. The singer's name and much of his personal memorabilia will grace a Sinatra-themed Italian restaurant when the $2.3 billion Encore opens Monday in Las Vegas.

"I didn't plan on it, but voila," Wynn said as he sat at a table in his Wynn Resorts Ltd. office with Grammy, Oscar and Emmy awards Sinatra won.

The resort was in the works from 2005, but Wynn and Sinatra's family agreed to the collaboration just two months ago.

"It seemed like fate," Wynn said. "We realized that this was like meant to be, and then everything happened very quickly."

Tina Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's youngest daughter, said the family had rejected similar plans from 12 restaurateurs.

"It was always more of a difficult decision than anything I've ever had to consider, really," said Tina Sinatra, 60.

She said the restaurant has worked out because the family believes Wynn truly cares about Sinatra.

"He loves him," she said. "He was his friend, and he loves and protects us."

Wynn and Sinatra worked together and were friends in the early '80s, when Sinatra sang for Wynn at the Golden Nugget hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J.

"I ended up being his friend because he said 'Steve does everything right. The kid pays attention. I like that,'" Wynn said. "I wasn't his son, I was too young to be his crony – that was Dean (Martin) – I didn't run with Frank or chase girls with Frank or anything like that."

The public caught glimpses of the pair's relationship through a series of humorous commercials promoting the Nugget casinos. Wynn was usually the butt of jokes, treated as a bellhop or other low-level employee by Sinatra.

The first commercial, filmed on Wynn's 41st birthday for the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, features Wynn on the casino floor talking about the place being a dream casino to run when he is interrupted by Sinatra.

The two eventually traveled around the world to host parties timed around Sinatra's performances in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. As years went by, they stayed in touch occasionally, and Wynn attended Sinatra's funeral in 1998.

"I thought that was it," Wynn said. But Wynn, 66, has now become a steward of his old pal's legacy.

The space itself, tucked in a corner of the resort near the high-limit tables and VIP check-in, channels Sinatra through the memorabilia. Photos of him hang in the dining room, bar and near the kitchen.

"The children and I are in our 60s. The calendar and the clock, the chronology is running on all of us," Wynn said. "Frank and Dean are gone, and Sammy – but these memories and these relationships were real."